(NewsNation) — Escaped Alabama inmate Casey White and corrections officer Vicky White were apprehended by police, partially thanks to a man who works at an Indiana car wash and tipped off investigators.
James Stinson spotted Vicky White and Casey White last Wednesday. He noticed that a truck had been at his car wash in Evansville, Indiana, for days on end.
“I noticed the car hanging out of the bay, which was unusual. It kept sitting there … Every time I left and came back, the truck was still there,” Stinson said.
The truck had Tennessee license plates, which stuck out to Stinson. He alerted authorities about the unusual sighting.
“I walked up to the truck and went, ‘Oh my God, it’s probably this guy from Alabama.’ I walked and looked in the truck because I think he could be dead, passed out, who knows? So I backed up. I opened the door, the keys are in it. I start it up. I Googled the local police department’s number because I didn’t want to call 911.
“They sent a cop out. The cop says, ‘Well there ain’t nothing I can do. It’s not reported stolen.’ He ran the plates. Then he left and came back. He looked in it again. He found a gun lock in the seat and said, ‘Oh my God, there’s a gun lock but there ain’t no guns around.’ So he left. He just said, ‘Do what you’ve got to do.’ I towed it,” Stinson said.
Stinson decided to have the car towed Wednesday. On Sunday, Stinson was contacted by the U.S. Marshals Service about the truck. He then checked his surveillance footage to find a man appearing to be Casey White behind the truck at the car wash. He said officers told him they had authorities on their way, but that they didn’t show up until Monday morning.
“They asked me where did you tow it? And I told him, so then they said, well, there are going to be flood of marshals at your house in 30 minutes. Well, he never showed up till the next morning,” Stinson said on “Morning in America.” “The news media is what flushed them out. Y’all doing your job, they were hiding in plain sight, but y’all flushed them out so they were able to get caught, but nobody else getting hurt.”
Fast forward to Monday afternoon, when authorities in Evansville tracked the duo to a hotel. They took off, and a chase ensued, with U.S. marshals and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office in pursuit of the Alabama fugitives; the chase ended in a rollover crash with both suspects in custody.
“I’m just glad it’s over and nobody got hurt. I was more concerned about one person trying to confront them. It took a team, and I’m glad it ended this way,” Stinson said.
“This guy has nothing to live for; he’s dangerous. Any one of us could’ve said something wrong and he’d have went off. I could’ve got on him for leaving the car in the wash bay, but I chose not to.”
You can watch Stinson’s full interview with “Morning in America” below.
James says the important message is if you see something, say something. It’s the message — and James Stinson’s action behind it — that Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton could not be more thankful for since the end of the manhunt.
“Thank you, James. You are a key player in getting a violent criminal off the streets. In cases like this, it’s often our citizens who solve them for us,” Singleton said.
Casey White and Vicky White had been on the run since April 29 after authorities say Vicky White helped Casey White escape the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama. Investigators followed the breadcrumbs north from Alabama to Tennessee and eventually Indiana.
They remained on the run until the chase and crash Monday afternoon.
After the crash, Vicky White was rushed to Evansville Deaconess Midtown Hospital for a gunshot wound. She has since died. An autopsy will be performed Tuesday morning.
At the time of Casey White’s escape, he was charged with capital murder for a deadly stabbing and was already serving a 75-year sentence for a 2015 crime spree that involved a home invasion, carjacking and police chase. Vicky White faces charges of permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree, forgery and identity theft.
The U.S. Marshals Service had previously been offering $15,000 for information leading to the capture of Casey White and $10,000 for information leading to the capture of Vicky White. It’s unclear if Stinson will be receiving the reward money.
Stinson said he is not so much interested in the reward as much as he is just happy no one got hurt and Casey White is back in custody.
On Tuesday morning Stinson, who is being called a “hero” by those in the community, was back at the car wash sweeping and changing out trash bags… his normal routine.
These interviews have been edited for clarity and length. The Associated Press contributed to this report.